Familiar of Zero Unlimited Realities Book 2: The Path of Brimir
by darkfrodo
Summary: The Universe is fading, and only an extinct race of mages may be able to save it. As Saito and Company try to unravel the mystery of why the stars are fading out and the fabric of space time is unraveling, they must also adapt to a world of advanced technology and faster than light space travel, to uncover a centuries old atrocity that humanity would rather forget. Book 2 of 3.
1. Prologue

**Zero No Tsukaima**

**Unlimited Realities Book 2**

**The Path of Brimir**

**Prologue**

_**Western Pacific Ocean approximately 300 km Northeast of Palau.**_

_**3 June 1723**_

_Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!_

The boots of Captain James Merryweather sounded against the wooden planks of the _Devil's Due's _quarterdeck as he nervously paced back and forth. He looked on as his navigator checked the position of the sun through his astrolabe.

"We're almost there Captain." He said plainly.

_Yes, _thought Captain Merryweather. _But where exactly is there?_

He eyed his strange guest down on the main deck, the guest he'd picked up in Constantinople. He was rather strange. The man had approached Merryweather at port and asked to charter his vessel. He offered a large chest of precious stones and gold trinkets as payment for the voyage. It was a treasure worthy of a King's ransom.

His passenger cut a rather odd figure indeed. He had blonde hair that hung low over his back, a tall, thin figure and a face that was exceedingly handsome. The Captain would almost call his features _divine_, even feminine like.

On top of his head was a turban, a traditional covering made from winding sheets of cloth. Merryweather and his crew merely figured that it was traditional garb from his homeland. When asked about his country of origin, the stranger only replied that he was from an "eastern desert land", and that his customs forbid him from removing his turban in public.

Merryweather continued to watch from above as his guest casually flipped the pages of a book. He'd asked him about it once, and the man smiled at him and called it a "sacred text" from his homeland.

_Well, _thought the Captain, _one thing is for certain, he is a man of considerable means._

Captain Merryweather finished this thought as a very well dressed woman wearing a dress of purple silk came over and began to stroke the back of his passenger's neck.

Her black hair and olive skin provided an ideal contrast for the sparkling jewel encrusted necklace that she wore around her neck, not to mention the many bracelets and rings that adorned her arms and fingers.

Paying customer or not, the Captain had a great deal many reservations about him bringing his wife on board. His crew was a superstitious lot and having a woman aboard a ship at sea was widely regarded as bad luck.

And beyond that this woman was….._distracting _to the crew. She exuded a perfect mixture of exotic refinement and feminine elegance that was positively intoxicating. Particularly for a man who would spend many months at sea with nary a lady in sight.

_Whap!_

"Hey! You rotten little brat!"

Captain Merryweather turned his head to see what the commotion was all about.

He sighed loudly at the sight.

_And of course the little whelp they brought on board isn't helping matters either._

As the child began waving a small piece of plank at the crew while playing swordsman, Merryweather descended the steps down onto the main deck of the _Devil's Due_ to try to calm the situation.

* * *

Aalim carefully turned the page of his book while his wife whispered in his ear.

"Aalim," she cooed softly. "Your son is making mischief again."

"I wonder Mila," Aalim began, "when he sleeps he's your heavenly angel, but when he is awake, he is _my son_."

Husband and wife watched as their child led the crew of the _Devil's Due _on a merry chase around the deck, his small, nimble frame proving to be more than a challenge for the surly seamen trying to corral the youngster.

They were not having any success.

"See here now sir!" Captain Merryweather said as he stepped onto the main deck.

"Your gold buys you passage on my ship, but I will not have your whelp causing disorder among the crew!"

Aalim turned, faced the Captain and bowed.

"A thousand apologies Captain."

Aalim turned and called out to his son.

"Elim!"

The boy froze in his tracks and looked to his father.

"Come here."

The boy continued to stand, looking slack jawed and wearing a confused "_what did I do?" _look on his face.

"Now." Aalim said, this time much more firmly.

Elim dropped his stick and walked glumly over to his father.

Aalim pulled up a wooden crate and ordered his son to sit.

As the boy sat, Aalim brought up a second crate and sat next to him.

"Did I ever tell you the history of your name?"

Elim silently shook his head.

Aalim opened his book up showed the page to his son.

"You were named after one of the ancient prophets from my homeland, Elim and Malka."

Elim wrinkled his forehead and asked, "Who were they?"

Aalim's finger followed the text of the book's page as he narrated the tale to his son.

"Elim, the wise old man who came from the stars and settled on our world, and his wife, Malka, a woman whose beauty could melt even the hardest of hearts and command the attention of a nation."

"Where there was one, there was the other. Elim and Malka were wholly devoted to one another. The legend says that they were married in a temple that floated among the stars and that their union was consecrated by none other than God himself, and the four elder spirits, Ignis, Auqua, Ventus, and Terra, bore witness to the event, and commanded that the four elements would guide and protect them wherever they went."

"Together, Elim and Malka laid down what are now known as the _Celestial Scrolls, _a series of prophecies about the end of our world and all of existence."

Elim cringed at this, and his face betrayed a worried expression.

"A-are we going to die father?"

Aalim smiled as he reassured his son.

"No Elim, all of this is just a legend, and even if it was to happen, it is not meant to for a long time."

"We are safe, and besides, the scrolls give us hope for the future."

"Telling him stories again?" Mila asked as she leaned over and draped her arms around her husband's neck.

"Just telling him about his namesake."

"I'm a poppet!" Elim yelled happily.

Suddenly the Captain again approached Aalim.

"We're here."

Aalim merely nodded and once the Captain turned his back to return to the quarterdeck, he leaned in close to whisper in his wife's ear.

"_Take Elim to the launch and wait for me there."_

"_What? Why? What are you doing Aalim?"_

"_Do not argue with me woman! Just trust me and do as I ask."_

Mila nodded in understanding.

"Come Elim," she said, taking her little boy by the hand.

Aalim watched his wife and son start toward the small launch on the side of the ship and then he went up to the quarterdeck to speak with Captain Merryweather.

Aalim carried a chest with him. It was a small chest; its dimensions were three feet by two feet by two feet.

"Captain, I'm afraid that we must now take our leave of you. Thank you very much for the voyage, but my wife and I can manage from here."

The Captain looked around at the empty horizon.

"You mean to cast off in a launch out here in the middle of the open sea?"

"I assure you Captain that my compatriots will be along to collect us momentarily."

Aalim set the chest down onto the deck in front of Captain Merryweather.

"In appreciation for your assistance in getting myself and my family to our destination, I offer you a further reward of this chest of gold and jewels."

The Captain watched as Aalim opened the chest and presented him with a treasure of sparkling gold medallions, doubloons, and trinkets encrusted with all manner of precious stones: diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.

While the Captain was dazzled by the shimmering wealth held within the chest, Aalim removed a spherical object wrapped in cloth from inside of it.

The Captain considered the chest, and then the object that his passenger had removed.

"What is that round object, which you would be willing to spend so much gold and treasure to bring out into the middle of nowhere?"

"It is of no concern to you, you have fulfilled your obligation to me and my family, and I am grateful, now take your reward and let us be on our way."

Aalim looked around, while he and the Captain had been speaking, a great many of the crew had gathered around him. He was surrounded.

Captain Merryweather smiled maliciously, and leveled a flintlock pistol at Aalim's head.

"I think not sir, you see by my reckoning if one would be so willing to part with such riches for the sake of something else, than logic would follow that that something would be many times more valuable. Isn't that right gentlemen?"

Suddenly all manner of cutlasses, pistols, and hatchets were pointed at Aalim's throat.

The Captain held out his free hand while continuing to threaten his passenger with the pistol.

"I'll be taking that piece of treasure sir."

Aalim merely stood, he was not resisting, but he wasn't giving in either. He seemed to be mulling his options.

Captain Merryweather decided to provide his guest with some incentive.

Before Aalim could object, two men grabbed his wife and son out of the launch. A crewman held a pistol to his wife's head, while another threatened to slit his young son's throat.

Aalim slowly handed the item over to Merryweather.

"You have no idea what you are doing. This thing is not some trinket for you to sell. Its value is beyond anything your world possesses."

"Then it should fetch a nice price when we reach Singapore."

The Captain gestured toward the launch with his pistol.

"You want to be let off out here in the middle of nowhere? Fine, go, but you are leaving this with us."

With that, the Captain removed the cloth wrappings and took in the object.

It was a large sphere, about the size of a standard cannon shot, but it gave off a brilliant golden radiance. Its surface roiled and pulsed with an energy that surrounded a hot white core that illuminated the golden sphere.

_It almost looks like a miniature sun._ He thought.

The Captain stared deep into the sphere's glowing core; his eyes were transfixed and unable to move, his gaze becoming unbreakable. Suddenly he began to shake and convulse subtly, his face contorted in pain, and an anguished moan escaped his mouth as a thin trickle of blood snaked its way out his nose.

The pain in his head intensified. The Captain wanted to look away but found that he could not tear his gaze away from the object, which seemed to stare right back in him, piercing his soul.

Aalim reached over and took the object away from the Captain, and quickly replaced the wrappings.

The Captain continued to stand there, his eyes dull and empty, almost as if his essence had been sucked right out of him, leaving only a hollow, uninhabited shell behind.

The Bos'n seized Aalim by the throat.

"What have you done to the Captain?" He demanded.

Aalim simply stared back in horrified astonishment.

The Bos'n placed the barrel of his flintlock at Aalim's temple.

"Answer me!"

"BOS'N!"

It was one of the crew, his finger pointing at the sky.

The Bos'n and the rest of the crew followed the sailor's finger and quickly saw what had gotten the man in such state.

The sun was being eaten, replaced by an obsidian disk that was slowly but surely erasing the bright, glowing sun from the sky, and bringing night to what supposed to midday.

A solar eclipse.

The Bos'n dropped Aalim and joined the rest of the horrified crew of the _Devil's Due_ in staring at the celestial phenomenon.

"Bos'n", one sailor whimpered. "It's an omen, a sign of evil this is." He turned and grasped the Bos'n by his collar.

"It's a sign of our doom!"

The Bos'n turned back to Aalim, and pointed at the round artifact resting snugly in his elbow.

"It's that thing he brought with him! It's what's eating the sun!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill them all!"

The crew had lost all sense of rationality. In their frightened state they believed that their strange passenger was the cause for the bizarre happening that was swallowing the daylight.

Aalim looked at the Bos'n pointing the gun at him and smiled.

"You should have let us go and left when you had the chance, because you're right about one thing, you're all doomed."

The Bos'n looked at Aalim, his face became twisted with rage. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud whistle.

The whistle quickly grew louder and closer.

"CANNONBALL!"

The main deck on the port side exploded hurling wood splinters, men, as well as pieces of men in all directions.

"Captain! We're under attack!" The Bos'n screamed.

Captain Merryweather just stood there, his eyes still bearing a vacant expression.

"Captain!"

Again the Captain didn't move, didn't even blink.

Another whistle, another explosion, the main mast snapped at the base fell astern, its rigging and sails plunging toward the quarter deck where the Captain, the Bos'n and Aalim still stood.

"Look out!"

Aalim and the Bos'n ran, each taking an opposite staircase down to the main deck. The Captain looked up, his vacant eyes just glimpsing the falling mast before he vanished under the massive weight of wood and sails.

The Bos'n took charge of the crew.

"MAN THE CANNONS! PREPARE TO RETURN FIRE!"

As the crew of the _Devil's Due _opened the cannon ports and began to load, the Bos'n and the gunners quickly realized that they had another problem.

_Where was the target?_

The Bos'n scanned the now darkened horizon, frantically searching for something to shoot at.

_Nothing_

"There"

Again a crewman pointed skyward. The gunners and the Bos'n looked up at the sun, now a black circle surrounded by a ring of golden haze.

They saw the impossible.

A ship, a giant, gleaming metal ship, with large cannons protruding out all around its bulbous bow, seemed to come directly out of the eclipse, floating on nothing more than thin air, and was now bearing straight at the _Devil's Due._

"Come on!"

Aalim grabbed his wife and son and carried them over to the launch.

"Aalim!" Mila screamed at her husband. "What is that strange ship up there? What is happening?"

"I promise I will explain everything to you later, but please we must go now!"

Just then another whistle sounded as cannon shot split the air. The _Devil's Due _rocked as it penetrated the lower decks, water now rushed into the stricken vessel in a torrent.

Aalim handed Mila the bundle containing the golden orb.

"Take this and keep it safe, but do NOT take the wrappings off," Aalim warned. "Do you understand?"

Mila nodded weakly, and took the object, her son was next to her clutching her right arm, wailing like the frightened child he was.

Aalim prepared to get in the launch.

The portside of the _Devils Due _exploded again. The launch snapped off of its moorings and plunged into the water. Aalim was thrown backwards; he came to rest next to the splintered stump that was once the main mast.

The _Devil's Due _continued to rock as cannon fire struck the vessel over and over.

But Aalim did not hear it.

* * *

"_Aalim."_

Aalim heard someone calling his name from the darkness.

"_Aalim."_

Aalim slowly opened his eyes. The sky was still darkened, the sun was still blotted out, a tall figure stood over him.

"Aalim my old friend are you alright?"

Aalim blinked his eyes, and slowly, the figure came into focus. Aalim smiled broadly as he beheld a face he'd not seen in a long time.

"Zahid!"

Aalim looked around as he was hauled to his feet. They were still aboard the _Devil's Due_, or at least what was left of it. The ship's deck was mass of destroyed planks and fallen masts. Blood and pieces of dead sailors were strewn everywhere. Smoke poured from the holes torn into the ship's sides, a clear sign of a fire down below.

Zahid looked his friend up and down.

"You've gone native."

"Six years is a long time Zahid. I had to adapt to survive here."

The two friends embraced.

"Mila."

"Who?"

"My wife and son, they are in a small boat just off the ship-"

"They are already aboard, our vessel. Quickly Aalim, we must leave before the portal-"

Zahid stopped mid-sentence, movement in his peripheral vision stole his attention.

Standing amidst the ruins of a once proud ship, the Bos'n stood pointing a cutlass at the two friends.

"I don't know what kind of demons you are, but I am sending you and your demon ship back to HELL!"

Zahid calmly stared at the enraged crewman.

"Spirits of life giving water, grant him a peaceful sleep."

The Bos'n charged at the pair.

"Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh!"

_Blam!_

Before he could reach them, a large round hole exploded out of the man's forehead.

The Bos'n fell face first to the deck, his cutlass slid the rest of the way over, coming to rest at their feet.

Aalim stood next to Zahid, a smoking flintlock clutched firmly in his hand.

"That doesn't work here."

Aalim tore the turban off of his head revealing a head full of blonde hair and a set of large pointed ears.

"The Firstborn Spirits of this world do not answer to us."

Aalim clapped his shocked friend on the shoulder.

"Come, the portal will be closing soon, and my wife has something that I must show you."

* * *

Aalim stood on the deck of the elven vessel trying to explain everything to his wife. Unfortunately she wasn't in what one would describe as a talking mood. She'd been floated out in the middle of the open ocean on board what turned out to be a pirate vessel, she'd been threatened, her son had been threatened, and she'd been shot at by a strange ship that flew out of an eclipse.

She was already well aware that her husband was _different. _This was to be expected given the level intimacy that goes along with marriage, but even so, being surrounded by people who looked just like him, and coupled with being aboard the same flying ship that almost killed her was a bit much to take in.

So one might understand her reluctance to engage in meaningful conversation at the moment.

Even so, when Aalim asked for the object that she'd been entrusted with, she handed it over. Truth be told, she was just grateful that her husband and son were safe.

"Is that it?" Asked Zahid.

"Yes."

And with that, Aalim tore off the wrappings and held the glowing golden orb up for all to see.

"Behold my elven bothers! The _Sun Tear. _Just as the prophets predicted!"

"So it's true." Zahid exalted. "The writings of Elim and Malka were right."

"Yes Zahid. And with this in our possession, those fools on the Elven Council will have no choice but to listen to reason!"

Zahid looked away, a pained look adorning his otherwise handsome features.

Aalim looked puzzled at his friend's expression.

"Why are so troubled? Everything we've worked for has been achieved."

Suddenly, a door leading inside the ship opened. Row after row of sword carrying elves marched out and approached Aalim. They were wearing the uniform of the Elven Council guards.

Zahid slowly separated himself from Aalim.

"Zahid?"

"I'm sorry Aalim, but it is as you said, six years is a long time."

Aalim stared at his friend in utter disbelief. He'd been completely unable to imagine the possibility of betrayal, or perhaps he just didn't want to.

Now, because of his foolishness, he'd put his own wife and child in danger.

Zahid looked upon his friend with a grim visage.

"Sieze him!"

"Yes Magistrate." A soldier answered.

"Magistate?"

"Yes Aalim, the Elven Council has seen fit to promote me, provided I perform certain services."

Zahid gave a matter of fact expression to Aalim.

"My first task was to bring a traitor to justice."

Aalim was placed in shackles.

"NO!" His wife screamed and ran over to her husband. "What are you doing? He has done nothing wro-"

"Mila!"

Aalim watched in horror as Zahid pulled his sword out of Mila's abdomen.

Her lifeless eyes rolled back into her head as she slumped to the deck.

Aalim charged at his former friend.

"I'll kill you!"

A dozen swords pointed at Aalim's throat.

Zahid picked up Aalim's crying son.

"You may want to consider your child's future. His half barbarian heritage need not reach the ears of the Council."

"Zahid!" Aalim pleaded. "You studied the writings with me, you saw the artifact, everything that has been foretold is happening!"

"Heresy!"

"It's not heresy it is truth! Elim and Malka have been right about everything! If we do not return to our world with the _Sun Tear _then all of us, elves, and barbarians, are doomed!"

"The council has strictly forbidden anyone from reading the writings of those heretics, and this." Zahid said referring to the artifact in his outstretched hand "is nothing more than proof that things buried by the Devil Brimir need to stay buried!"

And with that Zahid threw the glowing sphere over the side of the ship.

"YOU FOOL!" Aalim raged, "YOU'VE JUST KILLED US ALL!"

Fighting the guard's restraints, Aalim brought himself nose to nose with Zahid.

"You have just sealed the fate of the Elven Race."

"No, I've just saved them from the actions of a traitor."

Zahid produced a scroll from his the folds of his cloak.

"Aalim, by order of the Elven Council you have been condemned for the following crimes: engaging in seditious acts contrary to the wishes and laws set forth by the Council, commiting high treason by defying the orders of the Council by using the _Devil's Portal_ to travel to this barbarian world, and lastly…"

Zahid then looked over to the lifeless body of Aalim's wife.

"….consorting with barbarians."

Aalim shook with rage. He wanted nothing more than to avenge his fallen wife by killing this betrayer here and now.

"However," Zahid continued. "The Council has decided to grant you mercy; therefore the sentence of death has been commuted."

The crowd of soldiers behind Zahid parted and another elven soldier carried a bottle with a translucent pink fluid inside it.

"In lieu of death, it has been ordered by the Council that you suffer _The Potion of Lost Heart_ and live the rest of your days in isolation, never again to walk equally among your elven brethren."

The soldiers forced Aalim to his knees. One held his nose while another forced open his mouth.

Zahid uncorked the bottle and held it over Aalim's now open mouth.

"Do not be troubled Aalim." Zahid said with a malevolent smirk. "I promise to give your half barbarian son a true elven upbringing. It's more than you could have offered him."

Zahid began to pour the bottle's contents down Aalim's throat.

The Elven vessel vanished into the eclipse.

The burning hulk of the _Devil's Due _exploded in massive fireball of burning wood and smoke.

And a large glowing sphere settled at the bottom of the deep pacific, and almost immediately, the burying sediments began to slowly rise, where they would eventually entomb the object from sight for all eternity.


	2. One Thousand Years Later

_Saito thought he must be in heaven._

_The feeling of hard packed sand erupting between his toes with each step he took coupled with the cool sensation of water washing over them with each wind driven wave was enough to send his pleasure centers into overdrive._

_Saito couldn't believe that it would ever be possible for him to tear his transfixed gaze from the rolling hypnotic surf._

_Then he noticed the sky._

_A panorama of perfection._

_Laid out before Saito was the most beautiful night sky he'd ever seen. The glittering stars beckoned seductively against a dark blue backdrop, the perfect stage for the evening's main attraction._

_The white moon hung large and bright over the beach, imparting everything beneath it an enchanting soft glow. _

_It was a flawless night, and Saito began to run._

_The splashing of cold water against his ankles, the refreshing breeze that ripped through his dark hair soon became all that mattered to him. _

_As he ran, he began to feel as though his worries were receding behind him, the battles, the crusades, the stresses of running a Kingdom._

_He left it all behind._

_Before long Saito found himself laughing, and with each step he took he felt himself becoming more and more free. No more straw pile, no more knight training, no more Gandalfr's Runes, no more having to take orders from that shrew of a woman who called him Dog, and abused him at every opportunity._

_The woman who kicked him, insulted him, whipped him with a riding crop, blew him up with magic, and…_

_The woman, who danced with him, kissed him, went looking for him, and wept for him when it was thought that he had died._

_The woman who loved him…..and married him._

_The woman who made his heart beat so fast._

_They were one and the same person right?_

_Saito slowed to a stop while trying to reconcile the two competing personas of this woman._

"_Louise"_

_As Saito took in the surrounding grandeur once more he came to a hard realization._

_None of this meant anything if he couldn't share it with Louise._

_Just then Saito saw a figure up ahead walking away from him. Though he could not see the face, he could tell by the figure silhouetted against the moonlit landscape that it was female._

"_Louise!" Saito shouted._

_Saito began to trot towards the figure, making no progress, he quickened his pace. Soon Saito was running flat out, and yet he was unable to close the gap between himself and his quarry._

_Suddenly the woman stopped and turned around._

_Saito being at a dead run, found that he could not stop before running into her._

_As Saito skidded vainly against the sand, he found himself flying not into her, but through her. Next thing he knew he was lying face first in the sand._

"_How about here?" The woman called out._

_Saito sat up and spit sand from his mouth. He turned to face the woman that he had nearly run over and gasped loudly at the face revealed by the moonlight._

"_Sasha!"_

_Looking quite sultry in the romantic atmosphere generated by the soft glow of Earth's moon, stood Sasha, the elven familiar of Founder Brimir, and the very first Gandalfr._

"_Sasha!" Saito yelled again._

_But the elf paid him no mind._

_Before he could become puzzled by this, Saito spotted another figure emerging from the moonlight. While squinting his eyes, Saito tried to make out the figure's features._

"_If this is Sasha," Saito reasoned, "Then this must be…"_

"_Yes, this is perfect!" exclaimed the figure._

_Brimir, the legendary first Void Mage, and Founder of Halkeginia's magical society, was apparently enjoying a night at the beach with his familiar._

_A beach on Earth._

_Brimir sat down on the sand, and motioned for his familiar to sit next to him. As Sasha obediently did so, Brimir pulled out his wand and pointed it at the star filled sky_

"_Yes" Brimir breathed reverently. "This looks exactly like the sky described by the prophets." And with that Brimir began waving and pointing his wand at the night sky while humming a tune._

_The Founder would stop humming at certain points and then start up again from the beginning._

_As Saito watched the scene unfold with interest, he found that after a time, he recognized the tune that the Founder was humming. He'd had it played for him by Tiffania back in Westwood Village._

_It was the tune from the Founder's Music Box._

_A tune that supposedly could only be heard by the Founder's descendants, those who would inherit his legendary power of Void._

_But the Founder never quite reached the end of the melody. He would stop at some point and then point his wand at the sky and start over, but he would get a little bit further along with each go around._

_After listening to Brimir stop and start his melody over and over again, Saito realized what he was witnessing:_

_Brimir wasn't just reciting his melody, he was composing it. _

_Saito was watching Brimir compose the melody that would come out of his Music Box. The same melody that had Saito feeling so homesick the first time he heard it._

_The melody that always made one long for home._

_The Founder continued composing as Sasha leaned her head on his shoulder._

_Saito was pondering the meaning behind all this when the scene began to dissolve all around him._

* * *

Saito woke and slowly opened his eyes. He was in a large fluffy bed with chocolate colored sheets and white blankets. Saito looked to his left and saw Louise.

She was lying on her back while her pink hair spread gracefully on the pillow beneath her head. Saito watched in reverence as her chest slowly rose and fell. The soft moan that escaped her lips as she breathed never failed to entrance Saito. He lay there studying his wife's facial features, memorizing every detail: the curve of her nose, the small shape her lips made as they drew together at the outer edge of her mouth and then puckered out in the center, and…..

Louise drew sharp intake of air as her eyes opened. They narrowed slightly as she saw her husband lying next to her and watching her.

Louise blushed slightly as she took in Saito's small grin.

"Stop staring at me." She said softly.

"I can't help it." Saito replied. "You're really cute when you're asleep."

Suddenly Louise looked serious.

"It's wrong to look at your master with such eyes. I shudder to think what perverted scenarios are floating through your mind when you look at me like that."

"It's ok Louise, we are married after all."

"Really? Were we married that time you tried to crawl in bed with me?"

"Ahhhh. Well you see that was…" Saito stopped, he really couldn't come up with an excuse as to why once, just after they first met, Saito had come crawling in Louise's bed to kiss and embrace her. In all honesty Saito always felt a slight twinge of guilt every time he thought of it, a sort of _what was I thinking _kind of moment_._

"Don't lie to me Saito," Louise warned. "Y-you were going to d-d-do things to me in my bed, and make me part of your sick perverted f-f-fantasies."

Louise had more to say but before she could elicit more words, Saito covered her lips.

"Mmph"

While pressing his lips against Louise's, Saito's thoughts turned to the strange vision he'd had of the Founder and his familiar.

_What was the meaning behind all that? What were they doing on Earth, and why a beach of all places? What was Brimir doing using stars to compose his melody? _

Saito thought of the last thing he saw before waking up.

_And why did Sasha lay her head on Brimir's shoulder? Was that affection?_

Saito slowly pulled his lips from Louise's and stared into his wife's pink eyes.

_Did she have feelings for her master too?_

"Stupid Dog. I told you to stop staring at me."

Louise broke eye contact and cast her gaze down and to the left.

"It's a cruel trick of fate."

"Cruel?"

"Yes, cruel that my heart acted against my will and chose a perverted dog like you to be my husband."

Louise was now acting coy.

"But I am a kind and generous master, and if lecherous acts make my familiar happy, t-t-then I suppose it is my duty t-t-to go along with it."

She then pulled Saito close and gave him a deep kiss.

Saito wrapped his arms around Louise, his hands slowly moving down Louise's bare back before settling in at the deepest curve of her spine.

Louise separated her lips from Saito's and glared at her husband with a playful lust in her eyes.

"Hey Saito."

"Y-y-yes?" Saito replied, concerned at this sudden uncharacteristically aggressive Louise.

"This is the second time I've been to your world and you know what? We didn't do it then either."

"B-But Louise," Saito protested, "We were in my parent's house."

"Well we aren't in their house now." Louise pointed out; looking around at the rather opulent bedroom they were staying in.

"Besides," Louise cooed as she leaned in close to Saito, "you didn't seem to mind us doing it at my family's estate."

"Your sister walked in on us!"

Louise winced as she remembered her embarrassment at Eleonore's unannounced entrance into their bedroom while staying at the Valliere estate. After discovering Louise and Saito in a rather….._compromising _position, Louise's cheek had to endure even more pinching than usual, and as for Saito, well, he was left wondering if Eleonore really had to bring those infernal whips with her_ everywhere _she went.

But as bad as that was, both husband and wife realized that if Louise's mother had been the one to catch them, things could have been worse….._much worse._

Suddenly remembering her mother, Louise became heartbroken. Karin the Heavy Wind had sacrificed herself to stop the Pope's mad elven familiar from ever threatening Louis or Saito again. And amidst all her sudden sadness, Louise had another depressing realization.

After being thrown forward through time a thousand years by the void artifact known as the _Founder's Blessing, _Louise realized that the rest of her family, and nearly everyone that she had ever known were now long dead.

Louise looked down at her husband. If they could not find a way to get back home, then she would never see any of her sisters again.

Saito would be all that she had left.

She leaned in close and folded herself into her husband's chest.

Louise smiled, she'd never felt more secure, more at peace anywhere else. Lying there wrapped in Saito's arms was exactly where she felt she was meant to be.

Suddenly, Saito heard what he thought was laughter coming from the next room over.

"Saito!" Louise protested as her husband began maneuver himself from beneath her.

Saito, standing in nothing but his boxer shorts, put a finger to his lips and said, "Shhhhh."

He began tiptoeing toward the door.

Upon reaching his destination, Saito quietly placed his ear against the wooden door, and listened.

He heard giggling and indistinct conversation, and the occasional shushing, as if they were trying not to be too loud.

"Saito."

Saito turned, saw Louise and gasped.

His wife was wrapped in a thin sheet which left little to the imagination, and since Saito was already well aware that his wife did not wear panties to bed….

_She's not wearing anything underneath that sheet._

"Saito," Louise moaned again. "Come back to bed with me."

"Shhhhh." Saito said again. "I'm trying to hear what's going on.

Louise grabbed Saito and shoved his back forcefully against the door.

"Do not shush your master!" Louise said angrily. "You left me all alone in the bed and I wasn't finished yet."

Louise pressed herself against her husband again. She desperately wanted to be held by Saito again, she wanted more of his gentle caresses. She wanted him to whisper sweet nothings in her ear and massage her body slowly with his lips, first starting at her belly, and descending gradually toward her…..

Her thoughts ground to a halt as her lips curved into a wicked smile.

She knew how bring this impertinent familiar to heel.

"Saitoooooo", she said playfully, if you come with me I'll do that thing you wanted me to do."

Saito became shocked. On their wedding night Saito had asked Louise if she would mind performing a wifely duty that was customary on his world. After she gave him a confused look, Saito stated that it was part of his world's customs that a wife "ahem" _service _a certain part of a man's body to bring him pleasure.

Louise communicated her refusal with the business end of her wand.

But now it would seem that she was so desperate to have her husband's full attention that she was willing to forgo her noble's pride and submit to Saito's desires.

Louise sank to her knees and began to tug at the waistband of Saito's boxer shorts.

Saito's mouth hung open. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Lower and lower Louise pulled, and Saito realized that she would be entering the forest at any moment.

Suddenly the door that they were leaning against swung open. Saito, in his anticipation of the coming ecstasy, had accidently turned the door's long handle. The weight of their bodies pressing against the door forced it open and both husband and wife came crashing to the floor.

Saito landed on his back facing up, and Louise landed with her face planted firmly in Saito's crotch.

"Well Louise, I see you still can't help yourself when it comes to your naughty exploits in other people's homes."

Louise and Saito turned to the source of the unexpected voice. It was Kirche von Zerbst.

And she was not alone.

Sitting in a wing backed chair was Tabitha, her staff leaning up against her shoulder, and as is the usual case for Tabitha, she had her nose buried in a book.

And behind the chair, crammed cheek to cheek trying to read Tabitha's book was Kirche, Guiche, Montmorency, Tiffania and Irukkuku, Tabitha's familiar.

Realizing the compromising position they were now in, Louise began to turn red and shake with embarrassment.

Making matters worse, her sheet had come off in the crash. _She was now wrapped in nothing._

Louise squealed as she quickly hid behind Saito.

Everyone started to laugh.

"Louise", said Guiche in between guffaws, "If you insist on behaving in such a manner, maybe you should at least head out to the lake."

"Eh?"

"What are you talking about?" A confused Saito asked. "What's at the lake?"

"Empty boats." Tabitha said nonchalantly. "More privacy for you."

Louise slowly picked up the sheet that she had been dragging toward herself with her foot and wrapped herself back up in it. She stepped out from behind Saito and looked at all her friends.

They were bent over laughing.

Louise saw the book that Tabitha was reading. It was Robert's copy of _The Familiar of Zero, _the story of her and Saito's courtship and eventual marriage.

Then it dawned on her just what part of the story they must be reading.

Guiche grabbed Montmorency, and maneuvered her behind a couch. He placed his hand in the small of her back as he leaned over her in a seductive manner.

"Oh Louise," Guiche imitated, "I love you. That's why I'm risking my life, because I love you."

"Wait Saito, you can't! Not so suddenly", Montmorency replied dramatically.

Guiche was beginning to throw himself into the role. "But Louise I love you, I seriously love you!"

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Really for real?"

"Yes Louise, I love you."

"Oh Saito."

Guiche kissed Montmorency quite passionately and the two dropped out sight behind the couch with a _thump!_

At the conclusion of the extraordinarily overacted scene, the mages broke out into laughter once more.

Louise and Saito were by now thoroughly red faced and Louise had had enough.

"GIVE ME THAT BOOK!"

Still wrapped up in the sheet, Louise started toward Tabitha.

_Whoosh!_

Without even taking her eyes off the tome, Tabitha waved her staff and blew Louise back into her room.

She then turned the page.

"Not finished yet."

The laughter grew even louder.

Louise had never felt so embarrassed. It would seem every titillating and salacious moment that she ever had with Saito was in that book.

And lacking any sort of outlet, Louise did what Louise always did when she needed to let off some steam.

She kicked Saito where it hurts the most.

Saito went down, but Louise was not through yet. She unleashed a flurry of small but effective kicks at Saito's head as she berated him over and over.

"It's your fault! It's your fault! You just had to go and be perverted on that boat!"

Louise was positively seething with rage.

"AND NOW EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT IT!"

"Ahem."

Everyone turned at the sound someone clearing their throat.

They saw the well dressed man who greeted them when they first arrived here, the man who claimed to be a servant of one Robert James Mason.

"Pardon me ladies and gentlemen, but Master Robert has requested your presence in the library."

* * *

During her time as the Queen of Tristain, Henrietta thought that she had just about seen it all. Then after being picked up by that strange dragon that flew up to the stars, and seeing her world from their realm, Henrietta found herself growing accustomed to being astounded on a regular basis.

Everything that had transpired from that point on had taken place well outside of what she had believed was possible, like being able to travel to the stars, or when she and the rest of her fellow Halkeginians saw Saito's world for the first time. Henrietta had hardly been able to contain herself when she first glimpsed that bright blue orb floating in a sea of darkness.

To call it beautiful did not do it justice. To see such a thing as an entire world before her looking so small and so fragile was far beyond anything that she could ever imagine. And when they had landed on that world the surprises kept coming with a frightening regularity. Machines that could walk and talk, flying carriages that could take you to anyplace your heart desired, and the food, such delicacies to pleasure the tongue and palate that no noble had ever dreamed of.

And these miracles were not only just for the rich and the powerful. They were within the reach of just about everyone, regardless of parentage or wealth.

Louise had told her about the wonders that took place on Saito's world, but to see it first hand was an experience beyond her comprehension.

On this world people could walk into a room and have it flooded with light without having to chant a single spell. They have boxes that kept food cold, and with a just a press of a button a person could have a beverage with ice in it. _Ice! _Not ice made from a magic spell, but made in a metal box. It was incredible!

And then of course there was this: an image that took up almost the entire wall that moved and talked. Robert had told Henrietta that this was a special paint that covered the wall and was made up of particles that could change colors to make a large image and give the appearance of that image moving. It was used to both entertain and inform others about things that were happening in the world. Using this strange paint, one could see events that happened far away as they happened now.

World leaders also use this technology to watch wars unfold in front of them and make decisions that affect the battle right away rather than have to wait for a courier to deliver a message.

Right now there was a young and pretty woman on the wall talking about something that had happened on another world. Though Henrietta could not understand most of the terminology, she was able to sort of piece together what the woman was saying.

Another star had gone out.

Henrietta sat on one of the plush sofas that adorned the library in Robert's house, though calling it a house hardly did it justice.

It was huge. The home had over a hundred rooms and each was exquisitely decorated, the kitchen was unlike anything that she had ever seen before and the house also had ten rooms devoted exclusively to bathing and cleaning oneself. And on the subject of those so called _bath _rooms, there was yet another miracle of this world.

Something that Robert had called a faucet.

All one had to do was touch a metal sculpture that rose out of a basin and clean water flowed. And with some practice one could even learn how to control the water's temperature. Then there were the toilets. On Halkeginia not even nobles could escape the near daily ritual of _relieving oneself_. Henrietta had to do her business in a chamber pot behind a folding screen while a mage knight stood guard.

But on this world these commoners had managed to solve the problem of human waste with an ingenious solution: a gleaming white throne with a water filled basin beneath it to catch a person's leavings. When finished one used a soft parchment to clean oneself and then after pulling a lever, water rushed into the basin and swept the filthy waste away leaving only clean water behind for the next person.

It was absolutely amazing!

But that wasn't even the best part about these rooms.

That distinction was reserved for the soaking tubs.

The tubs had their own metal sculptures that supplied hot water, and there were holes in the sides of the tubs that blew the water in jets that soothed and massaged the body while one relaxed. Henrietta was even allowed to pour a sweet scented liquid into the water that provided a soft blanket of foamy bubbles to enjoy.

Such luxuries and marvels! No noble or royal on Halkeginia could even conceive of these things! It was truly a treat befitting only the Gods.

"Your Majesty."

Henrietta turned and faced Robert who stood there holding a small box and a book.

"There is no reason to address me as such anymore. I haven't been the Queen of Tristain in over a thousand years."

"Old habits die hard M'lady." Robert said with a smirk, "and while it may have been a thousand years since you wore the crown, you still look as though you haven't aged a day."

"Why thank you." Henrietta said while rolling her eyes.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you." Henrietta continued, "Are you royalty on this world?"

Robert chuckled slightly. "You must be referring to the house."

"This is what you call a house on this world? It looks more like a castle!"

Henrietta said this while gesturing around at the opulence that filled the library. The room was about as large as the main hall of the Tristain Royal Palace, and each wall was lined with shelves that reached from floor to ceiling, and every spare inch of space was filled with books. There were sofas and chairs fixed with soft padding and covered with embroidered cloth. Next to the sofas there were tables with sculptures and busts of famous people: philosophers, architects and artists that Robert said had shaped the ancient culture of Earth.

Finally, in the very center of the library there was another table, except this one did not have the flat surface that the others did. Instead it had a large sphere embedded inside that rose up about halfway out of the table. It was supposed to be a representation of this world.

Robert had called it a globe.

"The house belonged to my grandfather. I was sent here by my family during my days as an impetuous youth."

"Not much has changed since then I see."

Robert ignored Henrietta's attempt at sarcasm and continued.

"My grandfather was extremely wealthy when he died. He owned one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world."

"Farming suits sickles?"

"Pharmaceutical", Robert corrected. "He owned a company that makes medicines."

Henrietta merely nodded her understanding.

"My family has owned it for generations; in fact the company traces its origins back hundreds of years. In any case, when my grandfather died, he left the house and the company to me."

"So like the nobles of Halkeginia, you have also acquired your wealth through lineage."

Robert sighed. "Yes but-"

"And yet you came to my world and stirred up a revolution against those who possess wealth and power ostensibly to free the commoners and give the wealth back to the people."

"Yes I did."

"Well," Henrietta said with no small bit of satisfaction in her voice. "Doesn't that make you a bit of a hypocrite?"

"I had my reasons-"

"Oh yes, that's right! You came to save us from our own backward ways and properly educate us in the ways of this world so that one day we mages might be able to save ourselves from…..this world!"

Henrietta continued to stare at Robert who simply stood there gawking back at her at a complete loss for words.

"And by the way," Henrietta asked, "How did you reach the conclusion that the mages needed to be saved? Why exactly are we supposedly the key to saving the Universe?"

"It's because of this." Robert said while holding up a book.

"It's not another book about Saito is it?"

"No this is a copy of the text contained in the _Celestial Scrolls_. The scrolls were written by a pair of prophets who lived on Halkeginia before the time of Brimir."

Henrietta looked puzzled. "Prophets?"

"Elim and Malka, a man and a woman who were deeply in love with one another, but the whims of fate were such that they were not meant to be together, so they sought a way to circumvent fate by appealing directly to God to bless their union. God did so, but in exchange he bid them to settle in what would eventually become the elven Kingdom of Nephthys. There they would serve God by being his voice among the elves and spread a warning of events to come, events that if allowed to play out, could spell the end of all life and all existence."

"And they wrote that the mages would be the ones who would save the Universe?"

"Well, not directly."

Robert flipped through the book and read a passage.

"_And the children of the elements would rise up and awaken to their true heritage. Once the four elements are merged, Shaitan's Void will be excised from the realm of the Spirits."_

"The Spirits?"

"The exact meaning of the realm of spirits is open to interpretation, but most believe that the spirit realm refers to realm of the living. You see the elves from your world as you undoubtedly know, use the power of the spirits to fuel their magic. This is known as _Ancient Magic _or _Firstborn Magic_. Firstborn spirits can only be found on worlds that host life. Most often those spirits will choose a race with which to form a covenant with, and that race will be charged with maintaining the balance of nature on that world as well as the overall health and wellbeing of the planet. Of course all of this is speculation, as no one living has observed a firstborn spirit or their magic."

Henrietta nodded. After opening diplomatic negotiations with the elves regarding the future of the Halkeginian humanity during the upcoming windstone crisis, Henrietta had learned a great deal about the elves and their culture. They hold a certain veneration and reverence for the spirits of nature that exist in Halkeginia. The elves believe that the spirits are everywhere, and that only in an extreme emergency should they be used in an offensive manner. The elves developed technology and moved away from using magic to solve their everyday problems, mostly because they believed that it was the duty of the elves to serve the sprits, not vice versa.

"Now", Robert continued, "I have a gift for you."

With that, Robert flipped open the small box that he carried with him. Henrietta gasped as she saw the object inside.

It was a wand, a gleaming white rod that was polished to an almost mirror shine. Henrietta held picked it up and admired it in the light.

"As I recall you lost your wand in the battle against the Pope, and I found that one in a family crypt while digging in old Tristania."

Robert gently took the wand and turned it in his hand to show Henrietta.

"If you look here, the name of the wand's original owner is inscribed here."

Henrietta looked closely at the inscription running lengthwise along the wand's handle.

_Latham Montrose_

"Who was he?" She asked.

"I don't know. But his grave bore the Royal Crest of Tristania, so I would surmise that he must have been someone of great importance."

"Ahem"

Robert turned to the steps leading to the upstairs floor of the mansion.

"Your guests sir."

"Thank you Ferguson" Robert said to his servant.

Ferguson bowed and walked back up the steps.

"Ladies and Gentlemen if you will please come have a seat, we can get started."

Guiche, Montmorency, Tabitha, Irukkuku, Saito, Louise, Tiffania, Kirche and Professor Colbert all descended the steps into the library and took a seat on the various sofas and chairs populating the sitting area.

"Professor Colbert!" Robert began cheerily, "I thought that perhaps you might be willing to do the honors."

"Me?" Colbert asked while pointing at himself."

Robert handed Colbert a small red rod with a metal tip.

"This is a data rod. It is a device used to store information such as pictures and documents. On that console near the globe there is a hole about the right size for this rod. If you would please insert it, metal tip first."

Jean Colbert went up to the console that Robert had indicated and found the hole that he was talking about. Colbert pressed the rod into the slot.

The globe and table in the center of the library instantly dissolved away and was replaced by a set of spheres hanging in mid air. There were twelve moderate sized spheres of various colors and color patterns, and some of those had smaller spheres that revolved around them, and then those moderate spheres all revolved around one large golden sphere in the center.

"Today ladies and gentlemen I will be giving you a crash course in modern astronomy. What you see here is a representation of a typical star system of planets and moons."

Robert touched one of the smaller, but more brightly colored spheres and it immediately grew in size to comprise the entire display.

"Perhaps you will recognize this one here. It is your world."

The mages stared as the multicolored sphere slowly rotated. They had all seen this sphere before, while standing on the observation deck of the starship _Ivaldi. _Even when familiar to them, the gathering still gasped in awe at the sight of the Halkeginian continent and how it fit into the larger jigsaw puzzle that was their home world.

As the mages oooooo'd and ahhhh'd at the spectacle, Robert pressed on.

"Your world, like every other one in the Universe, is bound to its parent star." Robert tapped the sphere again and their Halk home world shrank back into the holographic star system. "Your sun is a star, here at the center of the system, and your world is one of twelve planets that circle around, or orbit, your sun."

As if she was attending a lecture back at the Magic Academy, Kirche raised her hand.

"Robert, what is that really large sphere right there about?"

Robert smiled.

"This is a kind of world we like to call a gas giant. Our sun here has one just like it too. We named ours Jupiter, the mythological king of the Gods. When naming the planets of your system we took a cue from your own mythologies."

Robert tapped the large gas giant and it too swelled up to encompass the entire display.

"I give you the planet Brimir", he said dramatically.

The displaced Halkeginians stood open mouthed as the enormous holographic sphere hung before them. It had many multi-colored bands bisecting its wide girth. Upon closer inspection, one could observe thick roiling clouds encircling the world from within those bands. Robert pointed out some of the other smaller spheres that orbited the giant gas planet, moons of Brimir. One moon was covered in green vegetation. The first moon discovered by Earth explorers that was confirmed to support life. Appropriately enough, it was named Sasha.

"And speaking of moons", Robert added as he pressed some more buttons on the imager's control panel. "These two you should be quite familiar with."

Indeed filling the viewing area were two orbs that bore silent witness to every war, every love story, and every life from birth to death as they played out on the Halkeginian stage. The twin moons that dominated the sky each night now loomed large in a library on a far away world.

"The moons appear to be tidal locked and orbit with the same speed relative to the planet's rotation, hence the reason why they always seem to appear in the Halkeginian sky. We actually have no scientific explanation for this. However, when naming your world's moons, we also decided to borrow from one of your world's most popular legends. We decided to call them Saito and Louise. I shouldn't think that you would need my help in deciding which one is which."

And sure enough amidst the snickers and sideways glances, Saito and Louise looked thoroughly flustered. After all the adventures and hardships they endured for the sake of Halkeginia as well as each other, they weren't really all that surprised to learn that history had committed them to the status of legends, but to have a moon named after you! That was more shocking than anything they could have fancied themselves.

Once again, Saito found himself wondering what his parents would think about all this.

"Professor Colbert", Robert called out, "Would please remove that data rod and replace it with this one?"

Jean Colbert nodded silently as he switched out data rods in the projector.

Suddenly the image of the Halkeginian moons vanished only to be replaced by another solar system. Henrietta and the other mages gasped out loud as the golden sun in the center of the display went dark and started to shrivel.

"This is the real reason why I called all of you here today. I have a friend in the sciences department of the University of Oxford that owes me a favor. He was able to procure this information for us."

Robert's audience merely sat in stunned silence as he continued to narrate the events surrounding the death of a sun.

"This is the star Glisa 44. It lies approximately seventy-five light years from Earth and it hosts a planet that supports a pre-industrial civilization, which means they have not yet progressed to using machines. Its parent star went dark around the time that we arrived here. Every other time that this has occurred it was not discovered until much later, however this time we happened to have people in the system studying the native population of Glisa 4. This was the first time that we were able to observe the sudden death of a star directly."

Robert turned off the projector and faced his temporally displaced guests.

"I have been approached by our government officials and asked to make my expertise available to the investigation. I agreed only on the condition that I am allowed to examine the world in question and bring a team of assistants with me."

Upon seeing the rather confused expressions on everyone's faces Robert clarified.

"You will be my assistants. And as my assistants you will be granted access to the site along with me, however, a word of caution."

Robert's expression suddenly became deadly serious.

"Under no circumstances are you to perform any magic of any kind around the people that you meet. That means here or anywhere else. No one has seen or heard of the Markey race in over five hundred years and if you are discovered I'm afraid that the consequences will be disastrous for both me and all of you."

Robert paused to allow his words to sink in.

"Do you understand me?"

All nodded slowly

"Good, we depart as soon as Captain Alexander returns from his errand."

* * *

Alexander Dufresne reached the last step and took a look around the platform. It was mostly empty save for a few tourists and lovers taking advantage of the romantic view of the mountains and the city below.

The android stepped up to the railing and took in the view. It was gorgeous. The glowing city shone like a jewel against the backdrop of mountains and a pristine bay that glittered with the reflections of a setting sun. And on this stage a colorful ballet of vehicles going to and fro whizzed in between buildings and skimmed over the water as boats of various sizes and shapes populated its glassy surface.

Alexander turned around, in the center of the platform that he now occupied stood a statue. His mechanical neck slowly craned upward as his gaze followed the statue until it terminated some thirty meters above its pedestal. The statue was that of a holy figure of one of this world's many religions. There were so many here that Alexander gave up trying to keep track of them all, but this figure seemed to be of one of the more popular ones. He'd seen this man depicted many times.

More than once Alexander had pondered how a world with only one sentient race had managed to spawn so many religions. It was a question worth studying if he ever got the time.

"Good evening Senior Alexander."

Alexander turned and saw a well dressed man approach from the steps and offered his outstretched hand.

The sentient android returned the gesture and shook his hand.

While maintaining his cheerful demeanor the man said, "And welcome to Rio de Janeiro!"

"Why have you brought me here?"

"My employers have sent me to ascertain why your last assignment has ended in failure. It seemed such an easy task: obtain an artifact from a museum before the military takes possession of it. You were given key codes to the museum security system as well as the rotation schedule for the guards. They did everything but complete the task for you and yet you return to us empty handed. Why?"

"I only came here to return the money you advanced us for this job."

Alexander drew himself to his full height and gave his best intimidation pose.

"I'm terminating our relationship."

With that Alexander turned to leave. However after taking a single step, he found that he could move no more.

He was frozen in place.

The stranger held up a small rectangular device and waved in front of Alexander's startled eyes.

"Signal jammer, keyed to the exact frequency of your servo actuators."

The stranger wore a broad grin exposing a set of bright white teeth.

"It would seem that you have lost your ability to tell your body to move."

The man held the jammer out toward Alexander and walked menacingly around him.

"If you think that this is just about money, Senior Alexander, than you are sorely mistaken. I may not be someone that concerns you, but you know who I work for, and I can assure you, that they will not tolerate insubordination among those whom they employ. Now because of your failure, the _Founder's Blessing _is now in the possession of the military and is on its way to Earth as we speak."

"You expect me to sneak aboard the _Valliere _and steal the _Blessing _from its cargo hold then?"

"No Senior, my employers have decided to use a more direct approach in dealing with that aspect of the mission. You need not concern yourself with it. No they have another task for you, and I'm afraid Senior, that you would be wise to complete it."

Alexander merely glared silently at his captor.

"You see my employers are a cautious and suspicious group, they have a difficult time trusting others. During your last meeting, they surreptitiously installed a worm in your system to record all of your memories. That information was downloaded onto their servers before your ship even reached Earth's atmosphere."

He brought himself eye to eye with Alexander.

"One could imagine their surprise when they learned that you acquired nearly a full year's worth of memories in just three days."

The android's glare hardened and became one of cold fury.

"They were surprised even further when they saw the rather _interesting _guests that you returned with."

The man reached over and patted Alexander on the cheek.

"Do not be troubled, those guests are the only reason that my employers have not decided to terminate you Senior. It's because of them that you have become useful again."

"You tell your employers that those people are under my protection! You understand me? You tell them that they are off limits!"

"You want to protect them Senior Alexander? Then make sure not to fail this assignment."

Alexander sighed. "What do you want?"

"They wish for you to retrieve the four elemental rings of the Halkeginian royal families."

Alexander popeyed. "You must be joking."

"According to your memories, your guests are in possession of them. The manner in which you acquire them is up to you Senior Alexander, however should you fail," the stranger smiled once more, "then they will send another to retrieve the rings and I promise you, that person will not be concerned with the safety of those who currently wear them."

"Do we….._understand_ each other Senior?"

Alexander gazed at his captor contemptuously. What else could he do? He could try to warn Henrietta, Tiffania, and Tabitha, but then who knows what kind of assassin or psycho these people would send after them.

He merely nodded his understanding and resigned to his fate.

"Excellent!" The stranger said cheerily.

He placed his arm around the still paralyzed Alexander's shoulder and gestured toward the statue towering over them.

"Magnificent isn't it? It is a depiction of this world's Lord and Savior. It is called _Cristo Redentor, _or if you prefer _Christ the Redeemer_. You see, Christ came to this world and proclaimed that he was the son of God, and brought with him a message of redemption. All one had to do to achieve this gift of salvation was to confess one's sins and pray for forgiveness."

The man released his grip on Alexander and set the jamming device at the android's feet.

"What sins will you confess to Senior Derflinger?"

With that the man began to walk away.

"Do not worry Senior!" He called back. "The batteries will deplete themselves in a few hours. In the meantime, perhaps you can reflect on your own past sins and those of your Founder."

He began to descend the steps.

"Even those with sins as despicable as yours can receive the gift of salvation."


	3. Demon of the Void

**Author's Notes: ** I apologize for the lengthy delay in updating. I have been working between seventy and eighty hours a week at work for the past month. That doesn't leave a whole lot of time for writing. The overtime however, has been glorious! Anywho, thanks to everyone who decided to continue the journey that Saito and Co. began in book one. During the past month I have been continuing to develop the plot and I have decided to change the format of this book.

I was originally going to tell the story of what happened to the elves and the mages in a series of flashbacks that intersected with the main story, but I have come to the realization that the sheer complexity of that story might end up getting confusing. So instead I am going to divide this volume into three parts. Part one will be Saito, Robert and the mages investigating why the stars are being attacked, and part two will be the story of how the mages were exterminated five hundred years previously. Part three will pick up with Saito, Louise and the others again as they try to save Halkeginia and Earth from a similar fate as the other worlds.

Again, I am sorry for the length of time between updates, I will try to get better. But remember, no matter how long it takes me to put another chapter up, you have my word that I will not let this end up as just another abandoned fic.

I will finish this.

One way or another.

Enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

In the Sistan province in Southeastern Iran, lays a vast desert, a barren outstretched rock face that continues uninterrupted for miles in all directions. However, near the edge of the Iranian border, the lifeless landscape is punctuated by a marshy wetland dotted with lakes and ponds that are fed by snowmelt in the nearby Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan.

Within this marsh is Lake Hamun, part of a string of lakes that circulate water throughout the oasis and provide a natural highway for native species to spawn during the spring melting season. The marsh itself is a flat plain, however in the center of the lake is an anomaly.

Mt. Khajeh, a flat topped basalt outcropping, rose defiantly against the pristine order of the otherwise unbroken landscape, a raised fist of non conformity.

It was at the top of this oddity that sits the ruins of an ancient fire temple of the Zoroaster religion. The Zoroastrians of the third or fourth century BCE were fire worshippers. They believed that fire was a purifier and cleanser of nature and practiced rituals where the bright white ash of their burned incense was slathered all over their bodies as a sign of purity.

By the end of the seventh century CE, warriors of the prophet Mohammed and his Islamic followers had driven out the practitioners of Zoroastrianism and their temples were either buried or destroyed.

All that remained of the temple that once stood proudly at the top of Mt. Khajeh was a foundation and ground plan. No one had worshipped here in centuries.

And yet on this warm and star lit evening, a fire was once again lit atop this mountain, and its light beckoned across the outstretched oasis as the sounds of the nocturnal species drifted up with the ash and smoke. And silhouetted against the flickering lights of the fire, were three hooded figures who engaged in nervous conversation while they awaited the arrival of a fourth.

"Welcome Vindalfr" said one of the figures to the most recently arrived of the three.

"A welcome to you too Brother Lifdrasr" he replied. "And to you as well Myozunitonirun, I trust your journey was a pleasant one."

"As pleasant as can be expected under the circumstances Vindalfr."

"Yes of course, where is Gandalfr?"

"He should be along any moment."

"Correction Brothers, he is already here."

All three turned to greet the arrival of their fourth and final member.

"Ahh welcome brother Gandalfr."

"We are honored by your presence."

"Most happy to see you Brother Gandalfr."

"And to you as well Brothers." replied Gandalfr, "Now that we are here, we may begin."

The hooded man known as Gandalfr brought the meeting to order.

"Now my Brothers it is with a heavy heart that I share with you that we have experienced a setback in our plans. It would seem that one of our recruits has been less than successful in supporting our cause." He then turned to one of his associates.

"Care to explain Brother Myozunitonirun?"

"Uhh it was a minor inconvenience Brother Gandalfr." The hooded man said while bowing low.

"Your operative was tasked to recover a very important artifact for us, a task that he failed to accomplish. Now we must take other more extreme measures to secure the prize, hardly what I would characterize as a minor inconvenience."

"I have already set plans in motion. I assure you Brother; the _Founder's Blessing _will be in our possession before the next eclipse."

"Yes, but acquiring a prize such as that from the clutches of the military will be nothing short of a coup, however that coup will be for naught if we do not also have the four elemental rings of the Founder's descendents."

The gaze of the one who called himself Gandalfr bored into that of the other unfortunate man who stood before him.

"Now it has come to my attention that the same operative that failed to acquire the _Blessing_ has also been tasked to secure us the rings, a development that I find to be most disturbing."

Gandalfr narrowed his eyes, "what assurances do we have that he will succeed?"

Myozunitonirun slowly pursed his lips before responding.

"He will succeed because he fears for the safety of his compatriots."

"Compatriots?" one member asked.

"Yes Brother Lifdrasr" replied Gandalfr. "It seems that I was correct in my theory that the _Founder's Blessing _was also a means to open portals through time. And instead of bringing the artifact to us, the android Derflinger decided to use it to travel back in time and alter history."

"How have you come by this information?" asked Vindalfr.

"Myozunitonirun managed to secretly record and download the android's memories upon his return."

"And analysis of those memories has confirmed that not only is Saito Hiraga the Destroyer and the one responsible for the coming catastrophe, but that the android brought the Destroyer and his master to our present day, along with several other Markey" added Myozunitonirun.

Lifdrasr and Vindalfr gasped.

"Markey here, alive!"

"After five hundred years?"

"Not only that," continued Myozunitonirun, but in addition to Louise Valliere, two other Void Mages are among those the android brought with him."

"Three?" Vindalfr gasped. "Brother Gandalfr I must protest that we were not made aware of this development. The presence of three living Void Mages completely alters our calculus-"

"It changes nothing!" Snapped Gandalfr, "In the five hundred years since the extinction of the Founder's tribe our Order, _The Familiars of Void, _have been the keepers of the legacy of a once proud institution! We have worked quietly in the shadows to bring about the Founder's resurrection so that one day when the catastrophe does arrive; his enlightened wisdom will guide us through its aftermath."

"And while we're on the topic," Gandalfr continued. "What is the status of ourcandidate?"

"He has just been confirmed the party's nominee, as predicted the eclipse takes place the day before the election and will ensure the maximum impact on the outcome."

"Uhh excuse me." Lifdrasr slowly raised his hand. "What of the _Gate_? We still have not managed to locate it and if I am not mistaken the success of the plan depends upon it."

"That my brothers, is where Mr. Mason comes in."

"Robert Mason?"

"Yes Lifdrasr, Robert Mason was the one who discovered the _Founder's Blessing_ and determined its true purpose. He disappeared two years ago, and now thanks to the android's memories we know that he used the _Blessing _to go back in time and also attempted to alter history."

Gandalfr relaxed his stance and eyed his fellow members.

"Even now he is on his way to investigate the latest star collapse, where he will no doubt discover the temple, and the secret that it holds."

"But if he discovers the temple, won't he also discover the _Plague?"_

"Yes, and that discovery will lead him to search for _Shaitan's Gate._"

"Brother Gandalfr, the _Gate_ disappeared five hundred years ago on the day of _Starfall_, no one has been able to find it and even if, as you believe, this Robert Mason will be able to locate it, how do you know that he'll succeed before the next eclipse?"

"It has been foretold by the prophets, and until that day comes, no one is to interfere with Robert or any of his Markey companions."

"And once the _Gate _is found?"

"Robert's usefulness will have run out. Eliminate him and the Markey."

"Eliminate them? What about the Void Mages?"

"Their presence will only complicate matters and besides, once the Founder stands before us restored to his full glory, we will not need the Void Mages that Robert and the android brought back with them. The catastrophe will unfold as the prophets Elim and Malka predicted and when the dust settles and the blood is washed away, only those favored few whom the Founder deems worthy will share in what remains."

Gandalfr smiled broadly and spread his hands toward the heavens, the glittering stars reflected brightly in his eyes.

"The Founder will bring us a new dawn, and we shall be its heirs."

* * *

"Mr. Gramont!"

Guiche suddenly broke free of his daydream as he looked up at the woman leaning over him.

"Are you paying attention?"

"Y-yes" he said meekly.

"Good, because these suits are the only thing that's gonna keep your ass alive down there and I wouldn't want you to freeze to death."

She walked away slowly from Guiche as Montmorency delivered him a powerful slap to the back of the head.

"Oh and one other thing Mr. Gramont." The woman said as she reached the head of the conference table.

"My eyes are up here."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now, continuing on, these SAS suits are designed for maximum mobility without sacrificing protection….."

Guiche rested his chin on his hand and soon his eyes began to wander once more. This woman, this angel, this…..absolutely gorgeous creature was clad in the most revealing thing he'd ever seen. Sure every inch of her was covered, but the garment conformed so perfectly with the shape of her body that it still left little to the imagination. The suit she was currently demonstrating for them reminded Guiche of a good servant: it came in and went out in all the right places and stayed close to the job.

_Very close._

A gentle sigh escaped Guiche's lips as he traced her gentle curves with his gaze. Reaching the point where those kinky contours yielded to a pair of supple, luscious, and curvilinear breasts, Guiche found himself wiping away a small trickle of drool that had formed at the corner of his mouth.

"Now the planet has been without its sun for about a week so surface temperatures are going to be well below freezing, these suits are designed to keep you warm. Now there is still breathable air down there but it is so cold it could very well freeze your lungs, so you will be carrying oxygen just in case."

A noble raised her hand.

"Yes Miss… Montmorency."

"Are we really going to wear these things? This isn't armor; it looks more like a pair of pajamas."

"If you feel uncomfortable going on this mission you are more than welcome to remain on board the _Ivaldi._ I can take your place instead."

Montmorency looked at Guiche who was seated next to her. He still had that dreamy eyed expression and was now drooling all over the table, her faced twisted into a look of rage.

_No way am I leaving Guiche alone with her!_

"I-I'll be just fine thank you."

The woman nodded, "Very well."

She turned to face everyone at seated at the table in the _Ivaldi's _conference room and continued her demonstration.

"Now your suit's fabric is actually coated with millions of tiny fluid filled capsules that break open if the suit gets torn, so if you are wounded or get snagged on something…"

She then proceeded carefully slice open her suit's leg with a knife. Suddenly a foamy substance emerged from the suit and formed a hard, white scar covering the tear.

"….the capsules rupture and release their fluid, which quickly hardens and seals the rip, thus keeping you protected from the outside."

"Wow!" all the mages said at once.

"One last thing, keep your helmets on at all times. Any exposure to the air will freeze your skin solid fast."

"Thank you Tamina" Said Alexander from the back of the room.

Tamina nodded and stood off to the side.

Robert then stood up and took his place at the front of the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen now that we are well on our way, I can reveal to you exactly what we will be doing once we arrive."

Robert then inserted a data rod into the wall console and a piece of the room's wall that appeared to the mages to be made out a transparent panel suddenly lit up and displayed an image.

"This is a picture of a city on the surface of Glisa 4, the world we will be landing on."

Robert then punched a button and another image appeared right next to the other one.

"What do you notice here?"

The Saito and the nobles all leaned forward in their seats and studies the two pictures that were now side by side on the wall screen.

They appeared to be the exact same picture.

_Except_

Saito spoke out.

"There is an extra building there."

"Very good Saito, yes everyone this image here on the left depicts the city just before the planet's sun went out, while the image on the right depicts the city just after. Our people were busy trying to evacuate the planet's indigenous population, when they noticed this structure had appeared out of nowhere. We don't who built it or why, but we do know that this building or temple was not there before the destruction of this world's sun."

Robert turned away from the screen as it went blank.

"We will land on the surface and enter the temple. As a precaution I am asking Alexander to return your wands to you, however I must stress that they are not to be used except in an extreme emergency. There will be troops awaiting our arrival on the surface and I don't want them witnessing anything suspicious, understand?"

All heads at the table nodded weakly.

"Good, now suit up people, we touchdown in twenty minutes."

* * *

Robert and the mages stood in the _Ivaldi's _aft cargo hold waiting for the ramp to drop.

Robert pressed his finger against the side of his helmet.

"Aright everyone this is Robert with a radio check over."

Standing in their skin tight SAS suits, the mages merely looked at one another and shrugged.

Robert sighed loudly and shook his head.

"Can everyone hear me?"

The nobles nodded their affirmative.

"Good now listen when the ramp drops we go straight for the temple entrance, I don't want anyone trying to wander off-"

Roberts voice trailed off suddenly as he looked over to two figures snickering in their suits.

"Saito, Mr. Gramont, care to drag your heads out of the gutter and join us at some point?"

Saito and Guiche straightened up and looked at Robert. Saito had been quite taken by seeing Louise in her suit. However when his eyes reached the part of her body that would normally be the realm of the lady lumps, Saito's face fell as flat as the surface of Louise's chest.

Fortunately for Saito, Louise failed to notice.

Guiche, on the other hand was looking rather lustfully at Montmorency, Henrietta, Tiffania and Kirche, as their suits accentuated their lascivious curves quite nicely.

Robert, however then noticed that he was not the only one.

"Professor?" He asked in a sly tone.

Colbert's head snapped briskly toward Robert's direction.

"Yes" his voice sounding out in Robert's helmet speakers.

Robert merely shook his head and chuckled.

"Et tu Professor? Et tu?"

"I beg your pardon?" Colbert asked indignantly.

"Honestly Professor they're half your age."

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kirche sidled up to Professor Colbert and took his arm. She gazed at him with a come-hither smile.

"Sooooooo." Kirche, said playfully. "You really are a man after all."

"R-really Miss Zerbst I was just—"

"Checking me out?" Kirche finished for him.

"I…..I…..I…."

"It's okay Jean, you can look all you want."

Kirche leaned in close and placed the front or her helmet up against the Professor's and kissed the glass.

"If you want to see more, you need only ask." she said coyly.

"Ahem"

Robert set a bundle wrapped in cloth on the floor and opened it in front of the mages.

"Your wands."

One by one Robert passed their wands to them.

"Your Majesty Queen Charlotte and Professor Colbert, your staffs provide a logistical challenge in maintaining concealment, however I do believe that I have the solution."

Robert showed Tabitha and the Professor two long, rounded containers sealed by a zipper.

"Simply pull this tab," Robert explained while demonstrating the zipper mechanism, "and you will see that your staff is hidden inside."

Tabitha and Colbert took the containers and slung them over their shoulders.

"Do not display them unless absolutely necessary" warned Robert.

"_Alright everyone, the ramp drops in thirty seconds. Just a friendly reminder, the temperature on the surface is minus one hundred degrees with wind gusts of about fifty miles per hour plus. Make sure your suit's heating elements are active."_

After Captain Alexander Dufresne's announcement, Robert went to each mage and checked the readout display on the wrist of his or her suit to make sure the embedded heating elements in the fabric was indeed on.

The aft boarding ramp dropped and the wind rushed in from the outside.

Robert's voice rang out over the com system embedded in each suit's helmet.

"The entrance to the temple is about fifty yards straight ahead. Remember, you are on an alien world, do not wander off and stay with the group. Also….." Robert faced them with a stern expression. "No magic unless I say so."

The mages nodded.

"Right then, follow me."

The group descended the ramp into the cold darkness. Tabitha and Colbert both looked up and gazed star struck at the alien sky. The star patterns were completely foreign to them. A wispy band of pinkish glowing dust stretched out over the heavens above as thousands of bright points of light beckoned seductively from behind.

The scene was gorgeous.

Robert activated a pair of bright lights that were attached to the wrists of his suit and pointed the way to the entrance of the stone structure.

"This way."

Henrietta stuck close to Robert and with great trepidation, she entered the temple.

The group first encountered a long inclined hallway with walls adorned with glyphs and symbols the Robert said were meant to bless anyone who entered the temple. After a time they came to a wide open chamber, Kirche pulled out her wand and pointed to the ceiling, prepared to cast a spell to flood the chamber with light from a fireball.

Robert shook his head no, and pointed to his set of wrist lights on his suit, and then pointed to the mages. Saito went to each of them and helped show them how to turn the lights on. Now by pointing their wrists, they could see where ever they wished.

"It appears to be a holy shrine or place of worship."

As Robert and the mages looked around the chamber, Saito approached Robert and asked him a question.

"Hey, I thought someone was supposed to meet us here."

"That's just what I was thinking."

"Any idea where they are?"

"None whatsoever. Here, take a look at this!"

Robert had stopped in front of a pillar toward the rear of the chamber.

"Take a look at these markings."

The pillar was decorated with several glyphs depicting a circle being slowly eaten away, an image evoking the phases of the moon back on Earth.

They moved to the next pillar, and there was a glyph depicting the temple and the moon above it. The moon had a slight aura around it, as if there was something behind it. The truth dawned on Robert immediately.

These pictures were depicting a solar eclipse.

There was an outline of a structure that Robert guessed symbolized the temple. Within the outline were stick figures, with hands stretched out toward the sky as the eclipse completely obscured the sun.

"It's the eclipse!" Robert exclaimed. "They said that this temple only appeared after the sun went out!"

Robert turned and grasped Saito by his shoulders.

"This temple must only be visible during an eclipse."

Robert turned back to the pillar, and gently brushed his hands against the glyphs etched into its stone surface.

"Now that the system's parent star has gone out, the eclipse is eternal."

"So whoever caused the star to collapse must have done it so that they could enter this temple." Saito said.

"Yes, but why?"

Robert pointed his wrist at various points throughout the chamber, lighting them up with his lights.

"What does this temple possess that would be worth destroying a star over?"

"Saito!"

Saito looked up and immediately ran toward the sound of his wife's voice. Soon he found her, and from behind the glass that made up her helmet face shield, Saito could see Louise's terrified and surprised expression.

"Louise!" Saito said grasping his master by the shoulders. "Louise what is it?"

Louise merely pointed straight ahead with her left hand, the twin beams from the firmly attached wrist lights melding together to form a spotlight's beam on the wall.

She slowly turned her head and faced her husband.

"Saito" she said carefully. "W-we're on another world right?"

"Yeah." He replied.

"Then what is that doing here?"

Saito gradually followed the beams emanating from Louise's wrists to the point where they illuminated the wall.

"What is what doing…?" Saito stopped.

_Whoa!_

Saito stood there with his wife staring at the five pointed star carved into the ancient stone wall.

The seal of the Founder.

The star was contained within a circle, and outside of the circle, lining up with each point on the star, was a symbol. Each symbol represented one of the four elements, water, fire, earth, and wind. But the symbol on the star's topmost point was just a circle.

Saito carefully advanced on the carving, and studied the empty circle representing the fifth and final element.

_Void_

_It has to be Void, _Saito thought. _What else could an empty circle mean?_

Saito spun around in place.

"Hey Robert!"

* * *

Henrietta stood in the darkness of the temple's holy room, looking around at the various glyphs carved into the walls. She was just about to ask Robert about a one depicting a man climbing a set of steps into the sky when she noticed something strange about his demeanor.

Robert stood there with a piece of stone his hand as if contemplating it. His eyes moved back and forth, as if he were reading something.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm just trying to determine how old this temple is."

"You can tell that just by staring at a rock?"

Robert chuckled. "This is a piece of stone from the temple wall. Sensors contained within the glove of my suit can tell me all sorts of things about it. Everything from what this piece of stone is made of to how old it is. The information is then displayed on the inside of my helmet."

Henrietta brought her face close to Robert. He blinked reflexively and took a step back as he looked back at her suspiciously.

"What?"

"I don't see anything."

"See what."

"The inside of your helmet, you said that the information about the stone would be displayed in the inside."

Robert smiled. "You can only see it from the inside." Suddenly he dropped his smile, and almost dropped the piece of stone as well.

"What's wrong?" Henrietta asked, sensing the change in Robert.

"No, that can't be right."

"What is it?"

Robert stared closely at the fragment of stone masonry in his hand. His face bore an expression of absolute astonishment.

"According to the sensor analysis, this temple is over 200,000 years old!"

Suddenly, a voice from across the room got their attention.

"Hey Robert!"

* * *

On the starship _Ivaldi's _bridge, Irukkuku paced nervously. It had been nearly an hour since she had last seen her master Tabitha and her other friends leave the ship for that frozen world below. She had asked, no _begged_ Tabitha to allow her to go with them. But the tiny blue haired mage merely shook her head and quietly gave her refusal.

"Too cold." She had said simply.

Now with nothing to do but pace and worry, Irukkuku was quickly losing patience. Of course patience had never been one of Irukkuku's defining traits.

She was after all still a child.

True, the rhyme dragon was over two hundred years of age, but that was nothing when compared to the average rhyme dragon's lifespan of over two thousand years.

She had only reached one tenth that age, which was comparable to a human reaching the age of about seven and one half years.

Definitely still a child.

Irukkuku still remembered the day that the summoning portal opened before her in the middle of the rhyme dragon colony. Despite her elders warning her not to touch it, her curiosity got the better of her and soon found herself standing in a strange place surrounded by strange people.

She found her master, the one who had summoned her, to be an enigmatic one. She briefly considered eating the petite mage, but after taking one look in Tabitha's eyes and seeing the cold seriousness and determination that resided in there, she wisely reconsidered.

And after a time she found herself beginning to care for the mage that she had been brought involuntarily to serve.

That was not to say that she did not miss her family. She did, terribly in fact. But after discovering that the summoning portal had flung her several thousand years into the future, and that she was now the last of her kind, Irukkuku had come regard her master and her friends as her new family. She loved them, all of them.

She was vital in her role in warning Saito and the others about Bidashal and Joseph's plans to kidnap and incapacitate Tabitha.

She even accompanied them into Gallia on the mission to rescue her _Big Sis _from the clutches of the elf and the Mad King of Gallia.

Now she felt helpless as her master went boldly into the unknown.

And the more she thought about it the more restless she became. It was maddening. She wanted to go down there. She wanted to help, to…

The disguised rhyme dragon shook her head.

_Well anything is better than just sitting here!_

"_Captain Alexander!"_

Irukkuku looked up. She recognized that voice, but its owner was nowhere to be found.

Alexander Dufresne, Captain of the starship _Ivaldi_ walked up to a console and flipped a switch.

"Mr. Mason." He said plainly. "How is it going down there?"

_We're fine. Listen. Switch to a secure frequency, we need to have a private conversation."_

* * *

Henrietta stood confused as she watched Robert.

No, not confused, _concerned_.

After telling Captain Alexander that he wanted their conversation to be private, Henrietta could no longer hear either of their voices in her helmet, but she could still see Robert, and he looked…..rather distressed.

Robert paced, waved excitedly with his hands as spoke rather forcefully with what seemed to be no one in particular. Henrietta could only assume that whatever scrying device he was using to speak to Captain Alexander back on the _Ivaldi _was still working, and that she and her fellow mages simply could no longer hear them.

Whatever it was that they were talking about, Robert looked very angry.

* * *

"_Would you mind telling me how the Seal of Brimir ended up in a two hundred thousand year old temple that is light years from Halkeginia?"_

Alexander picked up a handset so that those on the bridge could not hear Robert.

"What makes you think I would know anything about that?"

"_Look, I agreed to keep your true identity a secret Derflinger, and I also agreed not to let Saito or anyone else in on the fact that a future version of him is the one that is ultimately responsible for these stellar collapses, but if you expect any further cooperation from me, you're going to have to start sharing what you know."_

"I give you my word: I don't know anything about temples or the Founder going to other worlds."

"_This temple appeared here only after the star went out, and I have glyphs here on the temple walls depicting people worshipping in here during an eclipse."_

"So you think that the star was destroyed to make the temple appear?"

"_That's exactly what I think. The glyphs also show people ascending a bridge leading to a doorway during the eclipse."_

Alexander stood in silent surprise as the pieces began to fall into place in his mind.

"A portal!"

"_Yep. A stellar collapse means a permanent eclipse, so somewhere out there is a portal that will never close. We need to find out where it leads to."_

"I use the _Ivaldi's _sensors to try and locate it."

"_Do that. I'm still trying to find out what happened to our military escort. They don't seem to be around."_

"Copy, I'll let you know if I find anyth—"

Alexander didn't get to finish. He was interrupted by the blood curdling feminine scream that erupted from the handset earpiece.

* * *

Kirche von Zerbst pulled out her wand and conjured a flame at its tip. She wasn't sure exactly why she decided to wander, curiosity maybe?

Leaving the rest of the group behind, Kirche walked slowly along the rear wall of the worship chamber, the flame at the tip of her wand produced ghostly flickers that licked the symbols and pictures covering the stone wall.

Suddenly Kirche stopped, a certain set of symbols catching her attention. Even though she could not read them, she had seen these before.

Specifically, she'd seen them carved into the top of Saito's hand, and into every other familiar that she had seen including her own.

Runes.

"Jean?" She called out loud.

Professor Colbert came running over, his face already bearing the rebuke that he would soon commit to words.

"Miss Zerbst, Mr. Robert specifically said no magic while we are on this world."

Kirche ignored the Professor's chiding and gestured toward the wall.

"Look!"

Colbert gasped at the sight of the runes carved into the stone wall, and knelt before them.

"Incredible! Runic lettering here on another world!"

He ran his gloved fingers along the runes and felt the impressions they made on the wall. Clearing his throat he began translating them.

After a time he was able to dictate their meaning.

"Take a look here Miss Zerbst." His finger traced the runes as he narrated for Kirche.

"The runes tell of a Destroyer who would come from the stars bringing a great Evil. The door to hell would open, and the armies of the devil would come and destroy the Gods. The sun would become as black as the abyss, and night would reign for eternity."

At the bottom of the runes there was a depiction of a monstrous beast, with great horns and hands of fire doing battle with the Gods as the mortals below succumbed to death. There was another set of runes directly below the beast.

_Galdr_

But as the Professor continued to read and translate the runes, Kirche's attention was already elsewhere. Off to the right, a further thirty feet down the wall, there was a rounded corner. Kirche held up her wand and peered over to it.

It was a small alcove, recessed into where the two walls should meet to form a corner of the room. But instead of a seam and a right angle, there was a curved space. Kirche walked over to it and gasped as she spotted what was carved into the floor. Seated perfectly into the alcove floor was another round seal of the Founder Brimir.

Kirche carefully stepped back.

She was about to turn and call the professor, when she slipped and fell. Kirche then picked up her wand and shined the flaming tip over the spot where she had fallen.

She sighted a large, frozen puddle. The extreme cold of the sunless world had frozen solid what had been a puddle of liquid, and formed a slippery trap for the unsuspecting in the process.

Kirche ran her hand along the icy pool. The heated fabric of Kirche's suit glove melted a portion of the liquid, causing some of it to adhere to her fingers. From beneath flickering light of her flaming wand the liquid appeared to be red.

_Blood_

Just then an object fell from above and slammed into the frozen stone floor almost directly in front of her. Kirche looked at the shattered object with curiosity, until her brain began to process the scattered fragments she saw into a recognizable pattern with a meaningful context.

It was a human face. Almost as though it was the result of someone's careless handling of a porcelain doll.

Kirche was staring at a shattered human head.

Slowly, the fire mage turned her gaze upward. As they reached the ceiling, her eyes widened, her breathing stopped, and her body trembled.

Then Kirche opened her mouth and screamed.

* * *

"Stand by Captain", Said Robert. As he ran towards the sound of the terrified scream, he switched to back to the open frequency so that everyone could hear him.

Robert spotted Kirche standing near the corner of the rear wall with her head tilted up to the ceiling; her face was contorted in a visage of terror.

"Kirche! What is it?" Asked Robert as Saito and the rest of the mages came running up behind him.

The terrified fire mage could only point.

Robert, Saito, and the others followed Kirche's pointed finger until they saw the object of her consternation.

There were at least twenty of them hanging cemented to the worship sanctuary's vaunted ceiling, their arms outstretched by gravity's pull, their faces frozen in a grim visage of horror and agony.

At least one was headless, its cranium now comprised of several fragments lying on the chamber's stone floor.

"_Robert! Robert do you copy? Report!"_

"Were fine Captain Dufresne." Robert replied. "Miss Zerbst just found our military escort."

There was a long pause from the Captain's end until finally…

"_How many?"_

"I'd say about twenty."

"_Survivors?"_

"None."

"_Get out of there, were coming back down to get you."_

"Copy, give us a few moments to get the bodies down, we may be able to figure out how they-"

"Robert!"

It was Henrietta pointing back up at the bodies hanging from the ceiling.

"What is that?"

A thick viscous black fluid began to ooze out of the open mouths of the frozen corpses. It dripped heavily down to the stone floor as Robert and the mages darted out of the way.

In a seemingly impossible scenario, the fluid began to rise up from the pools formed on the floor. Shape came to the shapeless. First it was nothing more than a rough outline. A head, limbs, indentations on the head began to form a monstrous face. The fluid condensed further, and from the shiny black liquid came eyes, teeth, and the slick sheen gave way to the rough texture of skin. Soon where there was once a puddle of liquid, there was a small hideous creature, of the approximate size of a small child or an alviss doll.

And as more liquid continued to pour from the mouths and wounds of the dead soldiers above the mage's heads, it was a process repeated over and over.

Again.

And again.

Until the mages and their archeologist escort faced a small army of what could only be described as hissing, snarling little demons.

"Louise?"

Saito pulled Derflinger from his hip. His familiar's runes shone brightly as he brandished the sentient katana and turned to face his master behind him.

"Start chanting."

The tiny pink haired void mage nodded her helmeted head and pulled out her wand that she had tucked into her suit's belt.

Robert cocked a plasma rifle.

"No point in being subtle now I suppose."

Colbert and Tabitha each unzipped their staffs concealed in their container tubes they had slung over their shoulders. Kirche began launching fireballs at the advancing horde, while Guiche summoned his Valkyries.

Saito could feel his courage rising as Louise's chanting pounded against his ears from the speakers contained within his helmet.

However, before Louise could complete her chant, Tabitha unleashed an _Explosion _of her own.

The energy of the Void spell completely enveloped the swarm of pint sized demons coming to feast on the flesh of their unwelcome guests.

However, when the smoke cleared, the swarm seemed unaffected.

_At first._

The creatures unleashed a unified scream and soon began to swarm all over each other, forming a massive pile of wriggling, and squealing bodies.

Those bodies began to soften and turn back into a liquid, the demons began to mix and merge with one another.

Robert and the mages watched in horror as the swirling, and churning bead of black fluid began to condense and take on another form.

A form that seemed to come straight from Hell.

And this form was considerably larger. Saito could not help but notice that this new demon was only slightly shorter that Fouquet's golem.

Except that Fouquet's golem didn't have two large horns that rose out of the top of its head and then curved straight back, or rows upon rows of sharp pointed teeth nestled in a menacing snout like mouth with a fiery glow that shone from the back of its throat.

The golem also didn't have leathery skin, a long lizard like tail, or razor sharp claws at the ends of its fingers and toes.

_Other than that, _Saito mused, _the similarities are striking._

The demon reared its head back and roared at the Robert and the mages.

_The golem didn't do that either._

The beast lunged forward, its massive tooth filled jaws going straight for Louise.

_Clang!_

Saito delivered a sword strike directly across the monster's front teeth, the impact lifting him off of his feet and flinging him against the rear wall of the temple like a rag doll. The massive demon roared in pain as Saito slowly struggled to his feet.

Guiche set his Valkyries on the demon. The small golems vanished and reappeared hovering next to the demon, slashing and stabbing with their pikes and swords. The demon reached with its mouth and crushed them one by one in its jaws.

Professor Colbert and Kirche began launching fireball after fireball at the creature's face while Henrietta waved down Montmorency with a plan of her own.

"Go for the wrists!"

Montmorency nodded and both water mages pointed their wands and wrapped up the demon's wrists with swirling streams of water. Like a pair of bridge golems tugging a chain they slowly dragged the demon's wrists toward one another, intending to bind them together.

Suddenly, the demon flung its arms outward, sending Henrietta and Montmorency flying through the air.

Colbert and Guiche caught them with _Levitation _spells before they came crashing back to the ground with fatal results.

The demon roared again, and again made lunge toward Louise, who was still standing in the middle of the commotion, eyes closed, wand raised and chanting.

The beast opened its mouth and prepared to swallow the Void Mage whole.

_Stick!_

The fiend broke off and shrieked in pain.

Saito was directly beneath the demon, plunging Derflinger into its massive leg over and over again.

Now that he had the beast's attention he broke off his assault and ran.

"Guiche now!"

Guiche raised his wand, and the floor beneath the demon's feet opened up and began to swallow them. Unable to move forward, the hellion began swiping at anyone within reach of its clawed fingers.

Louise's eyes snapped open. Her spell was finally complete.

_Explosion!_

Louise's spell detonated right in between the fiend's wide open jaws. She and the other mages stood and watched as it screamed.

When abruptly…..

_Snap!_

The beast's jaws shut tight and its throat heaved with a loud _Gulp!_

"It swallowed the spell?" asked Montmorency incredulously.

"Okay… That's new." Saito said.

They all staggered back as the demon dropped to all fours. The beast's back arched upward and its abdominal section convulsed as it began hacking and dry heaving.

"What's it doing?" asked Kirche.

"It looks like it's trying to hack something up." replied Saito.

"The spell?" asked Robert.

Its massive claws dug channels into the temple's stone floor as the demon's breathing became even more labored. Soon Saito and the others could see dark green phlegm beginning to ooze out its mouth, coating its teeth and tongue.

And then…..

_Splat!_

The mages looked on in utter disgust as a giant phlegm filled sac fell out of the demon's mouth and splattered onto the frozen stone floor.

"Oh gross, what is that?" asked Montmorency.

Kirche slowly walked up a few paces to get a better look.

"Kirche what are you doing? That beast is still alive!"

Suddenly the sac began to ripple and furrow.

Something was alive inside of it.

The sac split open, and a long wriggling worm or serpent fell out and began flailing about. After a few seconds it could move on its own and support its own head and weight.

The serpent looked around and hissed.

Then it attacked.

Brandishing its fangs, it coiled like a spring and launched itself at the closest adversary it could find.

Kirche

Fangs extended and already spewing venom, the black serpent went straight for Kirche's throat.

The fire mage closed her eyes and raised her arm in defense and awaited the inevitable.

_Whack!_

Kirche opened her eyes and saw Professor Colbert finish swinging his staff and belting the wriggling creature back toward the massive demon that had spawned it.

He had saved her again.

"Miss Zerbst, get back!"

The dark snake lunged again, but Colbert was ready with a serpent of his own.

Colbert pointed his staff and proved to all why he was once known as the_ Flame Snake._

A swirling column of fire emerged from his staff and terminated in a flaming head of fangs and scales. A snake made entirely of flame.

The two serpents faced each other, hissing and snapping, each feeling the other out and searching for an opening in the other's defenses.

Colbert pulled back his staff and whirled his flame snake like long whip, snapping it toward the dark snake and driving it back and away from Kirche.

Meanwhile the large demon continued to struggle against the stone floor that Guiche had managed to mold around its feet, and anchor it in place.

The demon snake dodged another attack by Colbert's flame serpent; it gave a hiss in reply and dodged again. The demon snake waited patiently for an opportunity.

It didn't have to wait long.

Colbert pressed forward and attacked again, his flame snake extended itself fully and went for the dark serpent's throat.

Again it dodged and launched itself directly at the Professor.

Colbert screamed in agony as the demon serpent sank its fangs directly into the meaty flesh of his left thigh.

Kirche screamed, _"Jean!"_

The serpent released Colbert and reared back to strike again…

And was engulfed in a sphere of fire.

With eyes full of cold fury, Kirche stepped in front of Colbert, and faced the demonic serpent.

She twisted her wand as she consolidated the swirling flames around the snake.

Kirche was running on pure emotion, her rage fueled her magic as the temperature inside the spinning flames raced ever higher.

A small spherical indentation appeared in the otherwise frozen stone floor as the flame melted its way through.

The serpent squealed in agony, and soon it was nothing but ashes.

And when the object of her fury no longer endured, Kirche extinguished her flames and returned to normal.

She knelt next to the professor, her sight blurring as the tears welled up in her eyes. Kriche checked his wound and found that the suit had sealed itself with a foam like substance just as Tamina demonstrated back on the _Ivaldi._

Grasping both sides of the Professor's helmet, Kirche looked into the eyes of the man she loved, and gasped in horror at what she saw.

The whites of Professor Colbert's eyes had begun to turn black.

That wasn't all, his skin was turning grey, his breathing was raspy and labored, and his face was warped in pain.

The Professor was dying.

The snake's venom was destroying his body, and now he was going to die in Kirche's arms.

"Jean," Kirche cried. "Please…don't die, don't leave me."

Montmorency and Henrietta both arrived next to them, and had already began chanting their healing spells, both desperately trying to stabilize Jean Colbert's rapidly deteriorating condition.

Their spells were not having any effect.

_Ccccccrack!_

The mages turned to the full piercing noise that announced that the large demon had managed to free itself from the temple floor.

It growled and snarled as it stalked toward Kirche and the Professor.

Henrietta and Montmorency sent water blasts towards its face, hoping to divert its attention away from the wounded professor, as Kirche began to slowly drag him away from the combat zone.

Henrietta watched as Robert held up his strange rifle, and a small round tube with a reddish tinted glass end sprang up from the top of the rifle.

Robert looked into the tube and fired a yellow blast of plasma that struck the beast directly in its left eye.

The demon screamed again, and charged toward Robert, who dove to one side just as the fiend's snapping jaws reached his position.

Saito began to press his own attack. The superior speed and strength from his Gandalfr's runes enabled him to stay a step ahead of the flailing beast as he drove swung and slashed with Derflinger repeatedly at the beast's legs.

But all of this was only able to keep the creature occupied and off balance, it would not be enough to defeat it.

Something else was needed.

"Derf!" Saito shouted, "Do you know what this thing is?"

"It is a creature from the realm of Void, but in truth I have never seen one until we fought the Ancient Dragon. Before that, I thought they were merely legends."

"The Ancient Dragon, wait you mean that this thing is the same type of creature as the Ancient Dragon?"

"Yes, but Louise was able to hurt the Dragon with her Void Magic. This demon only seems to get stronger with it."

"So how are we supposed to stop this thing?"

The sentient Katana thought for a moment.

"It has a resistance to magic, so physical attacks would seem to be your best weapon against it."

Saito looked at Derflinger. The sword was right; he and Robert were the only ones that had managed to hurt the creature.

Saito looked at Robert, who was just getting back to his feet.

"Robert!" Saito shouted. "Magic doesn't work against this thing, only physical attacks can hurt it."

Robert nodded and aimed his rifle again.

He sent shot after shot of hot plasma streaming toward the demon.

Robert was succeeding in getting its attention.

The demon spun and swung its tail, catching Robert and Saito and flinging them both against the wall.

In the meantime Kirche had been able to drag Jean Colbert away from the demon and into the recessed alcove that she had found minutes earlier. Kirche cradled the Professor's head in her arms as they lay on top of the Founder's Seal that marked the alcoves interior.

The demon once again turned its attention toward KIrche and the Professor. Whatever venom or magic that the dark serpent had managed to inject Colbert with seemed to be drawing the demon toward them.

Suddenly the round Founder's Seal that Kirche and Jean were perched on began to glow, dimly at first, but soon it radiated a bright white light that utterly consumed them.

As Robert slowly staggered to his feet, he watched Kirche and Professor Colbert become immolated in a vertical beam of pure white light.

He gasped as their bodies dissolved away into the light, which then shot toward the cold, starry sky through a hole that had appeared suddenly in the temple roof.

Robert became shocked as he realized what he had just witnessed.

_The floor seal in the corner is a matter transporter!_

Robert fired off another shot of his plasma rifle.

"Get to the Seal in the corner!"

"What?" screamed Henrietta, "after what you just saw happen to Colbert and Kriche?"

"Just do it! It's our ticket out of here!"

"But we don't know where they went."

"Wherever they went it's got to be better than here!"

He fired off yet another shot.

Tabitha, Guiche, Montmorency, Tiffa, Henrietta, and Robert moved to the Founder's Seal in the corner alcove.

Louise began tugging on Saito's sleeve.

"Let's go you stupid dog!"

"Go ahead Louise, I'll be right behind you."

"I'm not leaving without you!"

"GO!"

Maybe it was the look in Saito's eyes, or maybe it was just that she had never heard him shout like that before. But whatever the reason Louise obeyed, she turned around and went to the Founder's Seal.

Saito charged toward the demon.

The seal platform began to glow and everyone on board was being engulfed in light.

"Saito!" screamed Louise.

Louise watched in horror as Saito single handedly engaged the giant demon in combat. He was a blur as he ran back and forth, slashing at the beasts hands and feet at every turn.

Robert and the other mages understood precisely what Saito was doing.

He was buying them time.

Louise however was not having it.

She strained and struggled against the other mages who desperately held on to Louise as she tried to escape the platform to help her familiar.

Her hand and head broke the perimeter of the seal.

"Saito!"

"Dammit! Pull her back in before we go, otherwise her head will be left behind!"Robert shouted.

The demon raised its foot, meaning to bring it crashing down on Saito, crushing him under its weight.

Saito stabbed Derflinger upward, impaling the creature's foot.

Louise's head was pulled back into the light, then just as her hand crossed back into the perimeter…..

_Zoom!_

Louise and the other mages dissolved away and streaked into the starlit sky.


End file.
